Cat back home in Swansea Valley after six-mile snow trip

AN adventurous black cat has found its way back home to the Swansea Valley — after being found six miles away in Penlan.

Barti the cat went missing from his family home in Craigcefnparc just after Christmas Day, causing some anxious days of worry for his owners.

And with the heavy snowfall, further concerns were raised about its welfare.

But the animal was spotted several times over the next two weeks in the Penlan area, and he was reported to the RSPCA.

RSPCA inspector Rohan Barker battled through the wintry conditions to where the cat was being kept in Penmynydd Road.

The animal was in reasonable physical condition, and then a scan revealed he had been microchipped and was returned to her owner Lowri Davies within a few hours.

The 18-year-old trainee vet said: "We were worried when he went missing, and at first decided to wait to see if he would come back.

"But after a few weeks we started to get worried.

"I've no idea how he got to Penlan — he must have gone over the mountain.

"But we have always microchipped animals, and this shows why it is so important to do so."

RSPCA inspector Rohan Barker said the incident highlighted the importance of microchipping pets.

He said: "It's a simple procedure but makes all the difference between being reunited with your animal or suffering the heartache of permanent separation.

"Thousands of pets are lost every year and sadly, many are never reunited with their owners because there is no way of identifying who owns them. The RSPCA believes that the best way to ensure a lost pet is found is to have it microchipped. This is done by painlessly implanting the microchip, which is the size of a grain of rice, under the skin.

"Once an animal has been microchipped it has its own unique code number. The owner's details and the code are placed on the national PetLog database. If a lost, stray or stolen animal is found, the code will be revealed by passing a scanner over the microchip."

2 comments

"RSPCA inspector Rohan Barker battled through the wintry conditions to where the cat was being kept in Penmynydd Road"
Did the poor man dig his way through a snowdrift? Or did he wait until he could follow a snowplough? Heol Gwyrosydd must have been feet deep after the avalanche.